Lock it Down

Lock it Down

Locker rooms are an important piece to the experience students have at your studio. It might be where they change, store their belongings or get ready to take on the day. No matter what students are using them for, locker rooms should resemble how you care for the rest of your business. Here, four studios across the country break down the thought process behind maintaining the locker rooms at their studio.

Yoga Six

Dustin Towery, the director of marketing at Yoga Six, said their locker rooms are designed to be an extension of one’s experience in class.

Although specifics can vary between Yoga Six locations, Towery said their locker rooms have a very modern feel with neutral colors and nothing on the walls, eliminating all “noise.” The idea is to make sure the space isn’t a distraction for students. “This should be a place where you can come and debrief after practice,” he said.

Typically, three to four showers are in each locker room of a Yoga Six studio. All have high-end finishes with glass doors. The Point Loma location also has a bidet.

Locks are offered complimentary to clients in order to help them feel safe about the items they leave behind during their practice. In the new studios, there are digital locks with phone chargers built in.

Platinum members of Yoga Six receive Yogitoes and signature large, orange bath towels included in their membership. While it’s a big value add, Towery did mention some studios do 30 loads of laundry a day as they wash all towels and Yogitoes on site.

Spark Hot Yoga

In 2017, Spark Hot Yoga was remodeled, and Janette Johnson, the owner, made sure to focus on the locker rooms.

While additions have really made the locker rooms shine, none of that matters if it’s not clean. Johnson said the No. 1 thing is keeping your locker rooms clean at all times. In fact, it’s this that helps set Spark Hot Yoga apart from other studios in the area, said Johnson.

While professionals come in and clean the studio four nights a week, Johnson also makes sure she and her staff clean up the locker rooms after each class. “I treat it like it’s my own home and company is coming over,” she explained.

In terms of what stands out at Spark Hot Yoga’s locker rooms, as well as what advice Johnson had, she offered up several points:

Spark Hot Yoga added a privacy curtain — like you would see in a hospital room to pull around a bed — in the recent renovation. Johnson explained it allows for her students to get more privacy if they want it, while not taking up valuable floor space.

The renovation also added fresh wood features, as well as more storage, hooks and shelving.

A great feature of the locker rooms is the big vanity in the women’s locker room. On the vanity, Johnson has complimentary toiletries and towels. She said she wants it to feel like her students are in their homes, getting ready for the day.

One product Johnson mentioned is a huge hit is Hair Shot — hair perfume — which she both has on the vanity and also sells in her boutique.

Having locker rooms be safe spaces can often mean they become a place to gather. Johnson said some of the most heartfelt moments have happened after class in the locker rooms. This is why the whole experience at the studio matters.

M.Power Yoga

At M.Power Yoga in Baltimore, Maryland, the aim is for a luxury feeling in its locker rooms. Joel Herd, the studio owner, said they have 70 lockers — so even at their busiest times, every student has a space.

“We have polished concrete floors, granite countertops and tiled showers. We stock them with everything a student needs — including soap, shampoo, conditioner, mouthwash, deodorant, hand lotion, hair brushes, hair dryers and hair ties,” he said. “Our goal is to provide the most convenience to our students and to improve their experience in the studio, not just in the class.”

There are several things Herd noted when creating beautiful locker rooms:

Keep them clean. A dirty locker room can take away from the experience.

Keep them working correctly. Herd said if your students can’t use the amenity, it isn’t improving their experience.

Make them accessible in the sense of avoiding lines. Build your locker rooms in a way that limits the possibility for traffic jams.

Comfort and convenience will add value to your membership.

Bend and Zen Hot Yoga

The locker rooms at Bend and Zen Hot Yoga in Louisville, Kentucky, are viewed as another part of the experience. “I think it’s keeping with our overall philosophy and principles,” said Meredith Conroy, a partner of the studio. “I feel extremely confident our studio is the best. We employ and take care of the most talented instructors, and then to let that drop off with the locker room experience just didn’t fit or make sense with our business model.”

In fact, feedback and seeing clients react has confirmed Conroy in the decisions they made to pour effort into the locker rooms, when others told them not to. “It was so important to us to not cut any corners and to take care of our clients in the best way we could in every single aspect of their experience at the studio,” she said.

With that in mind, Conroy shared some of the things that make their locker rooms stand out:

All amenities, from beautiful bath towels to shampoo and body wash, are provided complimentary.

The bathroom stalls were custom-designed by a local woodworking artist. They are a light wood, hand carved to look like trees.

Earthy, calming colors are part of the intention to make the space feel very natural.

A recent update to the locker rooms included adding black and white photos. Framed and mounted, they depict images taken in the classroom by one of the studio’s teachers, Megh Zahrndt.